So, What’s a Picture Worth?

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If you’re interviewing agents because you are considering a move, I have new major criteria for the selection process – the ability to post a decent virtual tour with all of the Internet marketing material for your house.

Every week, I spend a bunch of hours pouring over listing information in our multiple listing service to figure out which listings I want to preview or show, and in this market there are finally a whole lot to choose from. In Northwest Washington, I’m familiar enough with the market to have a pretty good idea what I’ll be walking into. Whether the listing is in my own neighborhood or in Howard County, a good virtual tour is a huge help. Even though looking at pictures is no substitute for a visit to a particular property, it does help to rule a particular house in or out. I have to bother fewer sellers with bad matches, and save my time (and that of my buyers) previewing and showing stuff they are more likely to like enough to buy.

So, here’s the rub. Some of us are decent photographers and have good cameras and big Macs with really cool photo editing programs. Others use Homevisit.com or, my new favorite, Mouse-on-House, both of which produce fabulous tours. Others go in with their little digital point-and-shoot. They may get a pretty good exterior shot of the front of the house, but they have interiors that include lots of corners of rooms or pictures of furniture. Or they have inexpensive wide-angle lenses that fish-eye and make the place look four times bigger than it really is.

As we leave the wacko market of the early 2000’s and enter one where agents actually have to work to get a listing sold, a good virtual tour in essential. What makes it good? It should show the house in a flattering light without creating unjustified expectations.

The front of the house, even if it’s really ugly, is a must. I’ve seen agents try to get around this with a close-up of the front door, or no exterior shots at all. People are going to see it eventually, and some buyers won’t rule out a plain (or even hideous) façade if there are other things to counter balance it. You’ll be better off trying for people with vision or who don’t care rather than spreading the net far enough to attract the buyers who will not even want to get out of the car when their agent pulls her Mercedes into your driveway.

Kitchen pictures are another must. If your agent does not include photos of the kitchen, agents will assume it has avocado appliances and mustard yellow countertops, so if it’s just a little dated, it’s better to include photos.

When I first got my real estate license, it was common to see agents who stayed close to home, and who were very familiar with most of the houses that came on the market in their own neighborhood. Today, virtual tours, car navigation devices and other technology miracles have made it easier for us to be comfortable showing properties in a much wider geographical area. With no tour, the agents who venture into your market area from a neighboring jurisdiction could miss your listing altogether when they decide what they are going to show. With a good, realistic tour, you’ll attract that buyer your Saint Anthony statue has been trying to find for you.

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